All Cowra residents are being urged to get COVID tested today, Saturday and Sunday, even if they’re not showing any symptoms, with the Western NSW Local Health District running a pop-up surveillance testing clinic at the Cowra Showground.
The testing clinic will run between 10am and 3pm today, Saturday and Sunday, at the Cowra Showground Sheep pavilion, and has been set up as part of a pilot program after Cowra’s sewage tested positive for COVID-19 for the first time this week.
The WNSWLHD will start piloting its surveillance testing program across a number of different communities today, including Cowra, in an effort to detect any unknown COVID cases in areas where there are currently no known cases, where there has been evidence to suggest there could be.
This includes locations, such as Cowra, that have had a positive sewage test without anyone having yet tested positive in that location.
Under the surveillance testing, anyone can get a free COVID test even if they do not have any symptoms, or have been identified as a close or casual contact of a positive case.
The main advantage is people without symptoms or who are not an identified contact will not have to isolate until they receive a negative result, which the WNSWLHD hopes entices people to get tested.
“People who aren’t close contacts or who don’t have any symptoms themselves or in anyone else in their household are then not required to self-isolate until they get their results,” said WNSWLHD Chief Executive Scott McLachlan.
“We’re going to pilot that approach in number of communities where we have questions that could be resolved by widespread testing.”
“Testing is available in all these communities and we want to encourage people to come forward to make a contribution to the surveillance testing.”
A spokesperson from the WNSWLHD said it was especially important for locals who have spent significant time in the community to get tested.
“If someone’s not come in contact with anyone for two weeks and not left their house, well, it doesn’t make sense for them to get tested, but someone who, for example, is out and about for work and might see a few people here and there, should get tested,” they said.
Cowra’s sewage was tested again yesterday, with the result expected to be known in the coming days
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